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Monday, June 04, 2012

Website Review: WWII Archives

If you're looking for an absolute treasure trove of historical documents, photographs, and lots and lots of other information on World War II, the WWII Archives website should be a required stop on your World War II research journey.

Shortly after the landings on the French coast, two Yanks make friends with the younger element. In most cases, the Armies of Liberation met with overwhelming receptions from the civilian population. France. 9 June 1944.

Their mission statement reads as follows:

"Sixty years have past since the end of World War II and, as time goes on, the commitment and sacrifice of the greatest generation is being forgotten. Over 400,000 Americans died and by some estimates almost 80 million people from around the world died. A chapter in a history book cannot help someone understand the magnitude of this event in history. WWII Archives was founded to ensure that the commitments, sacrifices and the lessons learned from the most import event in modern history are never forgotten. Our mission is to bring together the most information, documents, photographs and video about World War II into a single site. WWII Archives will present information to researchers, historians and enthusiasts in a single and consistent interface to make researching the most important event in modern history easier."

Their photograph collection contain numerous images that have rarely been seen, both from the Pacific and European Theaters of War, and their documents collection includes actual images of U.S. ship diaries. Other documents include German code books, radio intelligence summaries, war diaries, and action reports.

Battle histories that include photographs, a list of casualties, maps, investigations, and summaries are also incredibly well done.

If you have a moment or an hour or ten, you can easily get sucked into the wonderful content on this site. It's well worth whatever time you invest in it, then some.

2 comments:

Hi Melissa, I was happy to find your site and have begun following it. I have been meaning to check these archives out.My grandfather fought in WW2, in the Aleutian Islands, AK, which is largely a forgotten campaign which lead me to start blogging about it myself. It is an absolutely fascinating story. Check it out. www.floridabeachestotheberingsea.com